The Best Way to Train for an Exceptional Physique

I am often asked how I train to prepare for a figure competition. The truth is that I do have a favorite way to train for the weeks leading up to a contest...but it may not be the right way for you to train.

There are many exercise programs that will provide you with the results you are seeking in the gym, whether muscle building, fat loss, better endurance or improved athletic performance. There are thousands of different exercises you can perform for resistance training.

But the best training plan to achieve your goals will contain the following elements:

Consistency. No training program will give you the results you desire if you don't apply consistency to it. Consistency is doing it day in and day out...for the long-run. Building a better body takes patience. Permanent transformation is not a quick-fix thing, but rather a result of consistent, daily effort.

No doubt, you will feel impatient. You will have ups and downs. Expect resistance. Expect doubt. Consistency is not wanting to do it, and then doing it anyway. Consistency is keeping intention at the forefront. It is knowing that you may falter and then regaining your balance. Consistency is picking a strategy and sticking with it. It is never giving up.

Intensity. This is key. Your results  both physical and mental  will be directly proportionate to the effort you put into your daily actions.

Extraordinary results require extraordinary effort. Half-hearted effort yields mediocre results. If you want to realize awe-inspiring changes in your physique  you have got to push yourself in the gym every single day regardless of the specific exercises you follow. People should turn around and stare while you workout. Expect sweat, snot, and tears.

Progression. Your plan should have built-in progression. Each time you enter the gym, you add another rep, another set, another 5 pounds to the time you previously completed the same workout. Each time you do cardiovascular exercise, you go a little faster, farther, or harder than the time before. Add a level of resistance, add another interval, pick up the pace.

For this reason, keeping a training log is essential. I never leave for the gym without my training log. In it, Ive got down the type of training I am going to do each day, for how long, and what resistance or intensity I am going to use. That has been the key to continually improving my strength, cardiovascular endurance, and physical appearance over time. I KNOW I am making progress, because I can look back at my logs from a week, a month, or even a year ago and see, right there in print, what I have accomplished.

Consistency. Intensity. Progression. Apply these three to your training plan and results are guaranteed.